News:

Your username and password for these discussion forums are unique to the forums. Your forum login information is separate from your My Adventure Cycling login information, and your login info for the Cyclosource online store. You will need to create a separate login for each of these. However, to make things a bit easier, you can use the same email and password for all three accounts. Also, please note that your login information for the forums is not connected to your Adventure Cycling membership number. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We have blocked registrations from several countries because of the large quantities of spam that originate there. If the forum denies your legitimate registration, please ask our administrator for an exception. webmaster@adventurecycling.org will need your IP address, which you can find at many web sites, including http://whatismyipaddress.com.

Author
Topic: MTB for touring (Read 8018 times)

I'm 61 years old and a newbie to touring and bicycling in general. I would like to do light touring such as two to seven day trips, I'm not a light weight and it has been suggested that I should consider a mountain bike frame. I have acquired two older bikes and need to know which one would be worth the effort of turning into a bike I can use for touring or maybe neither one being worth it. The bikes in question are an early 1990's Giant Iguana and a middle 90's TREK 800 sport single trac series, both are in pretty good shape. Any help anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thank You

Neither. Or either. If you are serious about the sport of adventure cycling, either of these bikes will handle your first several thousand miles of touring. Afer that you will either upgrade, modify, or replace the bike.

The problem with 20-25 year old bikes is the amount of rehab you may need to do to make it road-worthy and dependable. Take it to a dependable wrench and get out your Visa. You'll need hubs, rims or wheels, chainrings, cogs, chain, shifters, mechs, brake pads, and the dafety check may find cracked welds or bent frame parts. Might be far easier and cheaper to get a newer bike with more current technologies.

Since you're large and are using a mountain bike as a base, be sure you like the shock or run a shock seat post.

Of course you're free to use a mountain bike frame if you want to, but it is a common misconception that road bikes can't handle much weight. I've read first-hand from plenty of riders on other forums who, on carbon frames, started out at 350 pounds before their riding got their weight down to 240 or less, and the frames held up just fine. What you do have to make special allowance for is wheels. The stock wheels most bikes come with will not hold up long at all under a heavy load, so you need to get something stronger.

I can't speak for mountain bikes; but in road bikes, although there were some wonderful lively, responsive frames made 2-3 decades ago, the shifting especially has improved dramatically since then, and it really is worth getting the more modern equipment if you can. I've updated a couple of bikes, and it turned out to be kind of like peeling an onion-- each layer leads to the next until there's nothing left. It turned into almost a big enough job in money and my time that I probably should have just replaced them with new bikes.

I commute and i do long distance tours on my MTB, a steed butted Marin team hardtail that I bought in '95. I've done 130 mile days loaded with it. A MTB is a great tourer because in general, it already has low gears, it is rugged, you can get wider tires than road frames, even touring/cyclocross frames, and if you're not that concerned with speed, like I said, I've done 130 mile days in my MTB, it'll take you longer.

if you do look into a new(er) mtb, just be careful with MTBs that are disc only, some bikes that only come with disc brakes lack canti/linear pull brake bosses on the seatstays or front fork and they are very handy to use as upper eyelets for a rear/front rack. Yes, you can get p-clamps, but it's nice to have a sturdy mount to the frame, less hassle and less chance of failure.

...and I always commute tour with MTB clipless pedals, cause their doublesided, unlike SOME road clipless pedals and the shoes are more comfy. I used to commute on a road bike with MTB pedals (TIME ATAC series).

d: Front Disk Brake. I don't care about the rear, I only want a disk on the front because it gets really hot on long down hill rides, and you don't want the rim to get overheated. If you can get both front and rear disks great.

Do not get hydraulic disks. I use a velcro type of device (looks a lot like a pant wrap to keep your pant leg out the the chain) as a front brake. It keeps the bike upright when it is parked. (A hydraulic will leak when used as a perking brake. That is why your car's parking brake is mechanical)

M: I insist on good rims, good quality hubs, thick spokes AND loktite on each of the nipples (if the dealer is making the wheels himself.

I could go on and on, but you were asking about the bike.

Now, if you have a good frame, you can add all of that to your old frame, IF you are inclined to be mechanical.

OR, if you are not inclined, go out and by something new with the above already installed.

DO NOT BUY the cheapest. Get a good bike with above average components. You do not need the "best" components, only the middle of the line stuff or better. Honestly the good stuff really works better than the cheap stuff.

Negotiate with the bike dealer. He/she can work with you to get you what you want. IF he/she won't, go somewhere else. When I said, work with the bike dealer, I did not mean dicker for price. I meant demand quality components, comfortable seat, and a properly fitting bike.

Thank you for all your help and I agree. Like you said there are some really nice road touring bikes. My only concern with this style of bike is that it will not hold up off road. I plan on doing some off road touring also, not the real aggressive kind but the old man type :0) and I thought the MTB would be better for a novice like me.

Thank you for your help. I was glad to hear that you are still riding a older MTB I like the feel of my older bike. You are absolutely right I am really not concerned with speed and like the low gearing for climbing. At my age I just want to take things easy and enjoy the ride. I do have a fear of the clip less pedals, how do you get over the feeling of not being able to get your feet off the pedals when you really need to.

Wow!!! thanks for the help. I have printed the list and have it hanging in the garage by my bikes. And I agree with you on the quality of components, don't need the top end but do not want the low end. I have a great bike shop about 2 1/2 miles from the house that seem to have a great staff and mechanics. (Assenmacher's Cycling Center)Once again thanks for all of your help and the incredible list.

I've met a lot of people touring on mountain bikes, and nobody seemed to mind doing it. I think that so long as its in good mechanical condition, that the only two items that you really should address are 1-putting bar ends on so you have different hand positions, and 2)smooth/semi slick tires for lower resistance (and noise) when riding on the pavement. I would be surprised if there is even much difference in speed from a touring bike. So long as yu can make yourself comfortable on it, it will work fine.

As far as the clipless pedals, I use Time ATAC Aliums on my commuter/tourer, you can spend more if you want lighter or perhaps better bearings on them but they work great, easy release and I've never had a problem with entry/exit.

I have also used Speedplay X series which are road pedals but similar to the Speedplay Frogs. the Frogs have a little more float (which allows you to rotate your foot without releasing) than the TIME and is also a nice clipless pedal. I don't think you'll go wrong with either if you decide to go clipless.

It's hard to actually *not* clipout in a serious crash, once your foot is pivoted, it releases but the ATACs being spring loaded, if there is enough serious force via tension on the cleat, it'll pull out without pivoting. But having ridden clipless for about 9 years now, it's second nature and you can get comfy with time and experience. Ride around an empty parking lot, practicing unclipping and clipping in like at a stop sign. Maybe on a sidewalk edge to be a little easier.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and I'll take your advise on the bar ends and tires, do you recomend a certain brand? Tgpelz has recomended a Schwalbe brand with slime filled inner tubes. Thanks again for all your help